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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 2025).

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

18069 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 390 of them this year alone and, so far, 68 this month (May 222).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

23: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. ‘Celebrating Oscar’. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Joe Steels Group @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.55. bf. A Northumberland Jazz Festival fringe event.
Fri 23: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 23: Gaz Hughes Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.
Fri 23: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £19.00.; £17.00. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:15pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bywell Hall, Stocksfield. 1:30pm. Northumberland County Show.
Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm.
Sat 24: Dean Stockdale Quartet + Mingus Sings @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Stockdale (piano); Tim Williams (guitar); Gavin Barras (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums) + Mingus Sings: Sara Oschlag (vocals); Alan Barnes (reeds); Tim Lapthorn (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); Clark Tracey (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sat 24: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 24: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sat 24: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 24: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 25: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ Spanish City Plaza (outdoor stage). 11:30am & 1:00pm. Free. A Whitley Bay Carnival event.
Sun 25: Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion: Bandstand Sessions @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 1:30pm. Free.
Sun 25: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Catriona Bourne Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Bourne (harp), Francis Tulip (guitar), James Owston (double bass), Joe Bainbridge (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Struggle Buggy @ The Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 25: Joe Steels Group + Norma Winstone (vocals); Nikki Iles (piano); Mike Walker (guitar); Steve Watts (double bass). 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Steels (guitar); Ferg Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Susans (double bass); John Hirst (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 25: Xhosa Cole/Neil Charles/Mark Sanders @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A JNE promotion. Note: Xhosa Cole replaces Nicole Mitchell.

Mon 26: Catriona Bourne Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 26: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 27: Bold Big Band @ Newcastle Arts Centre, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £12.00. & £10.00.
Tue 27: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Front St., Rothbury NE65 7UT.7:30pm. £12.00.; £10.00. adv. from Tully’s (opp. venue).

Wed 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 28: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 28: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 29: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: That’s the Blues, Dad.
Thu 29: Nova.sol + Mikoudi @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 29: Front Porch Three @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Americana, blues etc.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Sunday, January 01, 2023

Album review: Chicago Stompers - The Greatest Hits

Band leader, multi-instrumentalist, festival director and more, Mauro Porro has led the Chicago Stompers for two decades. To mark the milestone, the man from Milan chose to re-record much of the material on the Stompers' two previous recordings - C. S. Stomp and Too Late - and in so doing, assembled a first rate ensemble. A fifteen-strong core, plus five guests (four of them vocalists, variously soprano, alto, tenor and baritone), seventeen tracks, The Greatest Hits is the finished product, described by Porro as 'a present to our fans'.

From Ellington's East St Louis Toodle-Oo through to the closing 'bonus track', King Oliver's West End Blues, the Chicago Stompers lovingly recreate the jazz of a century ago, the 'jazz age'. The ensemble work is first rate, as are the many finely crafted solo contributions. Principal vocalist Marcella Malacrida is featured on eight tracks and, for good measure, plays glockenspiel on (Oh!) Lady be Good. Four alto saxophonists complement one another with Lorenzo Baldasso especially prominent. Pasquale Gravela's cornet features on all seventeen sides (Porro's cornet can be heard on half a dozen cuts), Giorgio Gallina's trombone playing catches the ear and Paolo A. Vanzulli makes himself heard on tuba. Guest vocalists Chiara Pederzani and Veronica Sbergia join Marcella Malacrida to produce superb vocal harmonies on Sunday. Excellent!

Mauro Porro's mastery of several instruments - piano, clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax, cornet, kazoo - is clearly evident throughout the album's near sixty minutes' playing time. Daniele Fazio recorded, mixed and mastered the album. The Chicago Stompers' twentieth anniversary (2002-2022) album The Greatest Hits (CD 005) is available from: www.chicagostompers.it. Russell                   
      
Marcella Malacrida (vocals - 3, 5, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, glockenspiel 12); Martino Pellegrini (violin - 3-5, 8-12, 14, 16); Pasquale Gravela (cornet); Lorenzo Baldasso (alto sax - 1, 2,4-9, 11-17, clarinet 1, 2, 4-6, 8, 9, 12, 16,17); Davide Vincenzi (alto sax - 3, 10); Sophia Tomelleri (alto sax - 2, 3, 5-9, 11-17, clarinet - 2, 3, 6, 8-12, 14, 16, 17); Arturo Garra (tenor sax, clarinet - 2, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16, 17); Giorgio Gallina (trombone); Mauro L. Porro (piano, clarinet - 17, soprano sax - 1, alto sax - 11, cornet - 1, 6, 7, 12, 14, 15, kazoo - 16, arrangements & transcriptions); Michele Rusconi (banjo - 2, 3, 6, 9, 13, 15-17, guitar - 8, 10, 11); Yuri Biscaro (guitar - 5, 7, 12, 14); Paolo Dellino (banjo - 1, 4); Paolo A. Vanzulli (tuba - 1-7, 9, 10, 12-17); Marco Rottoli (string bass - 8, 11); Fabrizio Carriero (drums, percussion, effects, washboard - 9) + Chiara Pederzani (soprano vocals - 14, 16); Veronica Sbergia (alto vocals - 14, 16); Doug Bowles (tenor vocals - 10); Drew Nugent (baritone vocals - 7, 13); Andrès Villani (alto sax - 1, 4)     
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